E-Ink Monitors: Ready for Prime Time? • Hacker News Board

Re: E-Ink Monitors: Ready for Prime Time?

#91

Post by coder543 » Mon, Oct 01, 2018, 6:21 PM UTC

jrockway wrote: post #90

fouc wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I need to wear glasses with my retina display, but not with my e-ink reader. The eyes are definitely doing more work when looking at a backlit display for whatever reason.

Same distance, same text size, and same font?

also, same color scheme? I've seen some studies that show it's harder for people with certain vision issues to focus on text that's white text on a black background than it is for them to focus on black text on a white background, so.. if they're trying to read on a dark theme on their phone, that could be noticeably different from using their E-Ink screen, which is almost certainly using a light theme.

Re: E-Ink Monitors: Ready for Prime Time?

#92

Post by dogma1138 » Tue, Oct 02, 2018, 7:41 AM UTC

lelf wrote: post #88

dogma1138 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lenovo has released a Yoga convertible with an E-ink display. https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/tablets/windows-tablets/yoga-bo...

Interesting. Basically two displays: primary IPS and secondary E-ink. But keyboard is… virtual, you type on e-ink.

You don’t are not limited to typing on the e-Ink it can be used for to display documents, to take handwritten notes etc.

Re: E-Ink Monitors: Ready for Prime Time?

#93

Post by DrJaws » Tue, Oct 02, 2018, 10:18 AM UTC

kurthr wrote: post #85

DrJaws wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

they are 4:3 ratio, so for a laptop is more than enough

Well I haven't ever seen a laptop with 4:3 (1024x768?) although I loved my ancient 20" 1280x1024 5:4 monitor and there are lots of smaller 3:2 surface-like laptops. The 13.3" (and the tiny 12) still accounts for only 20% of the 2017 market, with 14.1-15.6 (and even larger) accounting for the remaining 30+50=80%. This was about the market for Monitors though... not just displays in general so this e-ink display just d…

this ereaders doesn't have 1024 or 1280, the eink resolution is 2200x1650

Re: E-Ink Monitors: Ready for Prime Time?

#94

Post by fouc » Tue, Oct 02, 2018, 3:02 PM UTC

coder543 wrote: post #91

jrockway wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same distance, same text size, and same font?

also, same color scheme? I've seen some studies that show it's harder for people with certain vision issues to focus on text that's white text on a black background than it is for them to focus on black text on a white background, so.. if they're trying to read on a dark theme on their phone, that could be noticeably different from using their E-Ink screen, which is almost certainly using a light theme.

That would definitely be a good experiment to try. I would have to try a light black on light grey to match the kindle.

Re: E-Ink Monitors: Ready for Prime Time?

#95

Post by kurthr » Wed, Oct 03, 2018, 3:13 AM UTC

DrJaws wrote: post #93

kurthr wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well I haven't ever seen a laptop with 4:3 (1024x768?) although I loved my ancient 20" 1280x1024 5:4 monitor and there are lots of smaller 3:2 surface-like laptops. The 13.3" (and the tiny 12) still accounts for only 20% of the 2017 market, with 14.1-15.6 (and even larger) accounting for the remaining 30+50=80%. This was about the market for Monitors though... not just displays in general so this e-ink display just d…

this ereaders doesn't have 1024 or 1280, the eink resolution is 2200x1650

Yes, I read the article. However, I have never seen a laptop use such a aspect ratio even in the olden days, and I'm not sure manufacturers would choose to now, because... These are high resolution low contrast reflective screens limited to 13" which do not hit the current market diaginal/area expectations for mainstream laptops, much less desktop monitors.

They are good for low power daylight operation and I'm sure there is a small market for people who don't like backlights and emissive displays. I like my kindle for books, but I also don't mind the backlight for indoor use. As desktop monitors they have missed everything but the smallest niche.

Good luck if you really want to use one regularly as the writer says,"Based on my research, particularly great e-ink monitor comparisons, these devices are not ready for professional, daily use. They are laggy, have staining/ghosting problems, and perhaps worst, are quite unreliable. It seems that the failure rate on both of these devices is quite high and user happiness is quite low. If e-ink is your only option (because of health reasons) then these might be a savior, but short of that it seems like your best best is to wait for future development in the space."